Am I liable taking keys to the cart?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Liable,

Without knowing your facility's policies, it's hard to answer. This is a good question for your manager, who can always check the policies and confirm with Risk if need be.

Is it your understanding that only the DON carries the medication cart keys? A DON's  primary duty is not to administer medications. If a nurse calls off and you are trained to administer medications, it makes sense that you would be assigned to do so.

Here's what I do know:

• Keys to medication carts should only be in the hands of staff who will be administering medication.
• Medication should be secure at all times, so a resident or passer by cannot access medications.
• Never accept keys to the cart if it contains controlled medications without a documented count. 

Please let me know if I've missed your meaning and I'll try to help further-

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth